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Ryder clinches comeback win for Bruins

Jan 22, 2009 - 5:26 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Of all the things the Boston Bruins have done thus far this season, one feat they had not accomplished was posting a win when trailing after two periods. Now they can go into the All-Star break with another notch in their belts.

Michael Ryder scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout as the Bruins rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period en route to a 4-3 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

Defensemen Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara netted third-period goals and rookie Blake Wheeler also tallied for the Bruins, who improved to 1-6-2 when down after 40 minutes.

"We lost a couple tough ones in a row, especially that last one (to) St. Louis (on Monday). That was a heartbreaker," Wheeler said. "That third period (against Toronto) was huge for us. To be able to squeak it out in a shootout was huge for our team."

David Krejci notched a pair of assists and All-Star Tim Thomas made 31 saves for Boston, which has won four straight meetings with Toronto after opening the season series with a loss.

"We didn't have our best game, but we got a win," Chara said. "Tonight, we got guys scoring big goals for us, Tim made some big saves - everybody played big."

Jason Blake, Lee Stempniak and Brad May scored and Dominic Moore collected two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have lost four in a row at home and seven of eight overall (1-5-2).

"It's tough. It didn't go our way," Moore said. "But there's a lot of good things to take from this game."

Hoping to enter the break on a positive note, Toronto grabbed the lead when Blake backhanded a rebound in front of the net past Thomas with 6:02 remaining in the first period. But Wheeler drew Boston even less than three minutes later, tipping defenseman Aaron Ward's slap shot from the right point by netminder Vesa Toskala with 4:46 to go for his 14th goal of the season.

The Maple Leafs gained control in the second as Stempniak backhanded a loose puck on the doorstep into the net during a power play at 4:13. With 5:11 to go in the session, May halted a 59-game goalless drought, deflecting John Mitchell's wrist shot from the slot past Thomas for his first tally since December 14, 2007 while with Anaheim.

Winners of seven of their previous eight road games, the Bruins used the man advantage to knot the contest.

Wideman cut the deficit to 3-2 at 2:17 of the third, beating Toskala with a wrister from above the right faceoff circle. With time winding down on defenseman Pavel Kubina's holding penalty, All-Star Marc Savard made a nifty pass from the right corner to Chara, who converted from near the left goalpost with 5:53 remaining to forge a tie.

"It was perfect timing," Chara said of the pass from Savard. "We've been working on that, and it worked."

"We took too many (penalties) in the third," Kubina said. "I think the big difference tonight was the power play. Their power play was better than ours."

Following a scoreless overtime, Stempniak and Wheeler traded goals in the first round of the shootout. Neither team cashed in on their second attempts, and Blake and Martin St. Pierre both tallied in the third round.

"I know as long as I pick my spots, I have a chance, and it worked today," said St. Pierre, who was representing Boston's last chance at the time. "That's what you hope for under pressure, and fortunately, I did the right thing and scored."

Thomas stacked his pads to deny rookie Nikolai Kulemin on the Maple Leafs' next opportunity, and Ryder beat Toskala high to the glove side with a wrist shot to clinch the Bruins' first win in three games (1-1-1).

"The only thing that was in the back of my mind is how well we've responded to almost every situation this year," Thomas said. "But it was tough. Losing in a shootout is one of the worst things for a goalie."

Toskala stopped 27 shots for Toronto, which fell to 10-0-4 when leading after two periods.